Apparatus for compressing fibrous or other material.



No. 653,735. Patented July I7, I900. W. M. HOLMES. APPARATUS FOR COMPRESSI'NG FIBRUUS OR OTHER MATERIAL.

(Applicatio n filed Mar. 8, 1900.

(No Model.)

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NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVATSON M. HOLMES, OF HOOSIOK FALLS, NEW YORK, AsSlGNOR TO'THE PLANTERS OOMPRESS COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

APPARATUS FOR COMPRESSING FIBROUS OR OTHER MATERIAL.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters PatentNo. 653,735, dated. July 17, 1900.

Application fil d March 8, 1900. Serial No. 7,775. (No model.)

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WATSON M. HOLMES, a citizen of the United States, residing at Hoosick Falls, in the county of Rensselaer and State of New York, have invented a new and useful Apparatus for Compressing Fibrous or other Material, of which the following is a specification.

Thisinvention relates to apparatus for compressing fibrous or other material.

One object of the invention is to improve the construction and arrangement of the slotted head or cap whereby the feed of the ma terial to be compressed may be regulated to suit the conditions and kinds of such material.

A furtherobject of the invention is to provide a head-plate whereby the bridging of the material from one slot across to another is avoided.

Afurther object of the inventionis to provide a head-plate whereby the material is more equally distributed throughout the bale or mass of the compressed material.

Other objects of the invention will appear more fully hereinafter.

The invention consists,substantially,in the construction, combination, location, and relative arrangement of parts, all as will be more fully hereinafter set forth, shown in the accompanying drawings, and finallypointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings and to the various views and reference-signs appearing thereon, Figure l is a plan view of a head or cap plate embodying the principles of the invention. Fig. 2 is a transverse section of the same on the 1ine2 2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view in diagram, illustrating the operation of the construction in avoiding the bridging of the material. Fig. 4 is a similar View showing the objectionable bridging action sought to be avoided.

The same part is designated by the same reference-sign wherever it occurs throughout the several views.

In Patent N 0. 630,374, issued August 8, 1899, to George A. Lowry, is disclosed a construction of press and slotted head-plate or cap therefor, in which construction is employed an open-ended chamber or holder, the slotted head-plate or cap being applied to one end of said chamber, these parts being mounted for relative rotation. In the operation of a baling apparatus embodying these generic features the chamber is first filled, by hand or otherwise, to form a sufilcient body of the material within the chamber. relative rotation to the chamber and cap when the chamber is thus preliminarily filled and supplying the material to be compressed to or adjacent to the slot or slots in the cap such material is caught or engaged by the material previously introduced into the chamber and is drawn through the slots in the headplate or cap into such chamber and compressed and formed into condensed thin sheets or spiral layers, the body of the material contained in the chamber being augmented endwise by each spiral layer thus added thereto and correspondingly advanced through the chamber in the form of a column in a highly compressed or condensed state, the relative movement of the chamber and cap being secured by rotating the one or the other of these parts, or both, in opposite directions. It is set forth in said patent that the arrangement of the slots with reference to the line of travel of the material past the slots in the case where the chamber or holder rotates or the line of travel of the slots past or over the material in the case where the cap rotates plays an important part in the feed of 'the' material therethrough and in the distribution thereof in the formation of the bale or compressed column, for the reason that upon the arrangement of the slots depends the direction or trend of the drawing action exerted by the material within the chamber upon fresh material drawn through the slots. For instance, in case the slots are arranged in such manner that the lines of relative travel of all the points in the surface of the material with reference to a slot intersect the slot angularly then the trend of the drawing action is either outwardly 'awayjfrom the center of the cap or inwardly toward the center of the cap, according as such lines intersect the slot in an outwardly-inclined direction or an inwardly-inclined direction;

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a construction of cap or head plate and an arrangement of slots whereby By imparting a top any trend or variation in the direction of; trend of-th'e drawing action referred-to is;

upon the fresh material drawn thereby through the slots from one end of the'slot to the other, the lines of relative travel of the points in the surface of the compressed material'past the compressing-lipof the slot intersecting such line at uniform angles from one end of said slot to the other, notwithstanding the increase in radius or sweep of such points from the center of the cap toward the outer ends of the slots, and to secure thebest: results these lines should intersect the compressing edge or lip of the slot at substantially right angles.v I have found that by reversely curving the slots in the direction of the length thereof this desirable result is attained in a most efficient manner.

In the patent above referred to is disclosed aconstruction of head-plate orcap wherein such head-plate or cap is made up of sections which interlock with each other, thereby facilitating the manufacture ofthe same and materially reducing the expense of such manufacture, each section relieving the strain from the next adjacent section, thereby forming'asstrong a head-plate as though it were made-all in one piece, the proximate edges of ,adjacentsections being offset from each other and suitablyshaped to form the feed-slots. In the drawings reference-sign B designates the-sections of the head-plate, and referencesign 0' designates the compression chamber or holder,

In the construction set forth in the patent above-mentioned the feed-slots are described as terminating a short distance from the geometrical center of the cap... With such construction it has been developed that in compressing; material having long fibers sometimes-the fiber will be caughtat one end in one slot and at the other end in the next adjacent slot. This occurs more particularly at the inner ends of the slots where adjacent slots come in close relation to each other. This bridging action of the material across from one slot to another results in the formation of ahard lump in the center and frequently obstructs materially the capacity of the slots. It is one of the purposes of the present invention to avoid this objection, and to this end I so form the slots as to be continually open to the center-of the cap, as

clearly shown in the drawings, Fig. 1 and 3, theinner end of each slot commnnicatingoor opening into the inner end of each of the other slots, as shown at D, Fig. 1. By this construction it'will be: seen" thatwihen the fibers of'the material are engaged or drawn into the chamber at one end thereof through one slot and are engaged or drawn into the chamber at the other end thereof through another or an adjacent slot such-material will gradually work toward the center during the operation of the machine, and by reason of this center being open, as above described,, such material will slide off without unduly obstructing the capacity of the slot or the operation of the machine.

It isobvious that the principles of my invention may be applied to the case where the chamber is stationary and the head-plate or cap revolves, andalso and equ-ally well tO'thG.

case where-the cap..is stationary and the chamber revolves, or where both-thechamber: and cap revolve in opposite directions. It is: also obvious that the principles of my inven tion may be applied to a head-plateor cap-of.

solid construction, as indicated in thecdiae 0 gram of Fig. 3.

In Fig. 4: is shown how the capacity of the slots may be interrupted or interferred' with. by the engagement of the material in eachof two slots, and in Fig. 3 is shown how this objection is avoided bycontinuingthe slotst the center of the cap.

Having now set forth the object and nature a of my invention and a construction embody ing the principles thereof, whatIclaimasroo new and useful and of my own invention, and:

desire to secure by Letters Patent, is--..

1. In a machine of the class described, achamber, a head plate or, cap. for.- onerend-a thereof, said head-plate orcap provided with.

one or more slots, said slots extendingtother, center of the head-plate and being. rev'ersely. curved in the direction of the length th'ereofa from the center of the head-plate outwardly,

and said chamber and cap adapted to be relae. no

tively rotated, as and for. the purposeset: forth.

2. In a machine of the class describedga chamber, a head-plate forv one endthereof,

said chamber and head-plateadapted to..b.en 5 relatively rotated, said head-plate ,madein sections'ofiset edge to edge .frompachaother to form reversely-curved slots or openings therebetween, said slots extending tothecen'e.

ter of the head-plate, as and for thepnrp ose no set forth 3. In a machine of the. class described, 21-.

head-plate or cap having feed-slots, said slots extending to thecenter of thehead-plate and.

opening into each other at their inner ends,,.'12 5 as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a machine ofthe class described, a...

head-plate composed of sections, said sections.

being oifset edge to edge to form slots or openings therebetween, said slots extendingrmo heactplate having feed-slots extending to the center thereof, said slots being reversely curved in the direction of the length thereof from the center of the head-plate outward, 5 and communicating with each other at their inner ends, as and for the purpose set forth.

hand, this 2d day of March, 1900, in the presence of the subscribing witnesses.

WATSON M. HOLMES.

Witnesses:

G. T. FRANCIS,

In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my FREDERIC S. GOODWIN. 

